The 2018 Bordairrace hike-and-fly series kicks off in Germany’s Kampenwand/Chiemsee on 21 April.

The series has historically served as training for Red Bull X-Alps athletes, including Paul Guschlbauer, Lars Budack, Pascal Purin, Thomas Hofbauer and Simon Oberrauner. This year for the first time there will be a rookie class, and the events will have live tracking.

The X-Berg Challenge four-day adventure race starts on 26 April 2018. The race sees paragliders, mountain bikers and runners racing against each other around turnpoints in the Drakensberg, South Africa.

The length of the route differs from race to race, but organisers say it will be around 90-180km in a straight line. Athletes choose their own routes to best suit their sport, taking in the turnpoints, and it’s a race to the finish.

The event is now in its sixth year, and the solo category has been won once by a trail runner and twice each by mountain bikers and paragliders.

Pilots can enter solo or as part of a team of two to four, and can mix disciplines. It’s recommended to have a dedicated supporter, but if a willing volunteer can’t be found there is a resupply service for unsupported athletes. Read about the team and solo entry combinations and more, here.

The pre-race briefing takes place on 26 April at The Border Post, Oliviershoek Pass, with race days from 27-30 April.

There is a 10% discount on the entry fee for athletes who have entered before. Registration closes 9 March 2017.

“The challenge is to fly, run and cycle along a pre-set race route across the Drakensberg, South Africa, around turnpoints. The length of the route differs from race to race but is around 90-180 km straight-line distance. First to goal wins.”

El Yelmo International Festival of the Air is back in Segura de la Sierra, Andalucia, Spain, on 1-3 June 2018. Now in its 19th edition, the free-flying festival promises three days of fun in the Spanish sun, with airshows, a trade fair, conferences, a competition and the International Festival of Air Cinema.

Hundreds of paraglider and paramotor pilots are expected, with 20,000 spectators over the weekend.

The sixth edition of the Airtour hike-and-fly competition will take place from 9-17 June 2018, starting as always at St Hilaire du Touvet in the French Alps.

This year for the first time pilots can choose to fly in Adventure or Competition categories, tackling three different tasks of increasing difficulty, graded green, blue and red, like ski pistes. In all, the course covers over 300km through the Alps.

Adventure category
Pilots taking part in the Adventure category are not ranked, though they are tracked and their positions displayed on the website as with the competition pilots. They follow the green, blue and red courses in order. Adventure-category pilots can race alone or teams, and pilot and supporter can alternate. Pilots need an IPPI 5 rating and some cross-country experience.

Race category
In the Race category, pilots follow the green, blue and red courses in order, and first to goal wins the race. Pilots need an IPPI 5 rating and either competition experience or proof of significant cross-country flights in order to be selected.

The three different courses that comprise the Airtour 2018 route

The courses
Green: small Chatreuse tour with optional turnpoint la Sure
Blue: loop to the south around Trieves, Devoluy, Le Buech, le Vercors and an optional turnpoint at Aspres sur Buech
Red: loop in the heart of the French Alps with Mont Blanc as an optional turnpoint

Pre-registration is open on the Airtour website, and closes on 31 January 2018.

The 2018 X-Pyr starts on Sunday 24 June 2018, with 40 teams signed up to race 567km across the Pyrenees from west to east by foot and by paraglider.

The race begins at 10am on Sunday 24th June at Hondarribia on the west coast. First to goal at El Port de la Selva on the east coast, wins. The rest of the teams then have 24 hours until the clock stops. All athletes have to stop and rest overnight.